TUSCALOOSA — Nick Saban doesn’t agree that Alabama’s offensive line struggled in its first spring scrimmage on April 7 even if he helped stoke that perception.

Despite multiple members of the team, including the 66-year-old Crimson Tide coach, saying “we probably had too much pressure on the quarterback at times” following the scrimmage, Saban bristled at the suggestion Alabama’s offensive line play was anything less than encouraging.

"Well I read in the paper today how the defensive line took advantage of them in pass rush — I don't know where that came from,” Saban said. “But I thought the offensive line really did a pretty good job in the scrimmage, to be honest with you. … Maybe we got a little more pressure, but we got a couple guys that are pretty good rushers.”

Alabama is starting its third week with a reshuffled first-team offensive line grouping that includes sophomores Alex Leatherwood and Jedrick Wills Jr. at right tackle and right guard, respectively, alongside senior Ross Pierschbacher at center, senior Lester Cotton at left guard and junior Jonah Williams at left tackle.

“It was actually kind of shocking, there was a lot of moving around,” junior outside linebacker Terrell Lewis said. “I was seeing guys like Jedrick Wills at guard and stuff like that, so I’m looking at it like, ‘Whoa!’ in the middle of the scrimmage.

“It’s definitely (different) seeing them getting work at new positions and you’re going full speed, I know they are getting used to it. It’s just different.”

Lewis said multiple members of Alabama’s pass rush took full advantage of the shifting pieces, and even managed to hit a few of the Tide quarterbacks.

That included redshirt freshman Mac Jones, who wears a black no-contact jersey like the rest of the quarterbacks, taking “a couple bangs” in the scrimmage, including one particular play in which multiple defenders made contact with the third-string quarterback.

“It was like a pinball machine or something,” Lewis said with a smile.

Last season, Leatherwood and Wills Jr. spent their freshman year serving as the team’s backup left and right offensive tackles, respectively, though each rose to the challenge during limited playing opportunities, including when Leatherwood played well in place of an injured Williams in the second half of January’s national championship game.

“I'm kind of encouraged by the offensive line,” Saban said. “We have a lot more experience, we have a lot more knowledge, we have a lot more leadership on offense right now, and I think it starts with the offensive line and I think that's going to have to be one of the strengths of our team this year.”

Including Pierschbacher, who started the last three seasons at left guard before making the move to center this offseason, the left side of Alabama’s offensive line is filled with returning starters, with Cotton starting all 13 games at right guard last season and Williams starting all 28 games he’s played in his first two seasons.

Which is why the right side remains a bit of a “work-in-progress” after Leatherwood was flipped from the left to right side, and Wills Jr. slid down from tackle to right guard as part of a mid-camp mixing-and-matching up front.

"You know, it's a work-in-progress when you move guys to new positions, but we think both of those young guys are really good players,” Saban said of Leatherwood and Wills. “We want to come out of the spring with as much knowledge and diversity for both of those players, and they've done a really good job all spring long.

"They have things that they need to work on and improve on, (but) I think we're all getting more and more confident in both of those guys so that we feel comfortable and confident that they can go in and have a role on the team next year.”

It’s not unusual for Alabama to experiment up front in the spring, often working through different combinations in an effort to create the best mix among its top 5-6 offensive linemen when there are no games to prepare for.

It can also serve to provide players a different vantage point from which to learn and understand their particular responsibilities, regardless of whether they stay at that position or return to one they’re more comfortable with.

“I think it's all about creating versatility,” Pierschbacher said. “I know for me, personally, the first time I got moved to center two or three years ago, that really kind of opened up my mind and just made me learn the playbook in a whole different (way). It wasn't just, what is the left tackle doing at this position, it's what is everyone doing? I think that gave me a better grasp of the offensive playbook, so that only really helped me.”

Pierschbacher, who said the offensive line was “pretty clean” credited any issues in the first scrimmage were due to multiple factors, including “cohesiveness” with the reshuffled line makeup.

“It's either protections or calls or a difficult blitz, stuff like that, and cohesiveness just with having different guys play different spots, trying to build cohesiveness and play next to each other,” Pierschbacher said. “I think it was a good step, but we'll learn from the mistakes this week, get better."